CAPTAIN SHABBYHOUNDE 



249 



anything that anybody else would take, and wanted particularly 

 to distinguish himself. So Shabbyhounde and he went on 

 from fence to fence, rejoicing. 



As luck would have it, at the end of ten minutes or so the 

 fox took it into his head to turn short to the right, but 

 the Squire's hounds turning short also, they were getting 

 together on the hne, when our friends found themselves " right 

 among them before they knew where they were." It is a 

 general rule that when mischief is done, every person who 

 is not in the place with the master or fault-finder, whoever he 

 may be, is wrong, and it required no rhetoric from the Squire 

 to proclaim " that any but a natural born fool might be sure 

 that the fox would turn where he did," but when the Squire 

 came up and saw it was his old tormentor, Captain Shabby- 

 hounde, who had ridden them to check, he began reading the 

 Riot Act, most vehemently, exclaiming, as he held the hounds 

 on across the enclosure, something about d — d horse-dealing 

 something — that did not sound at all like " gentleman." The 

 scent was good, the hounds were quickly on the line, without 

 letting in more of the tail than was desirable, and away they 

 went again full tilt. 





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